


Who Will Save You Now?

by HixyStix (GaiaMyles)



Category: Jericho (US 2006), Supernatural
Genre: 'Cause the Apocalypse is Always in Kansas, Alternate Universe - Genie/Djinn, F/M, Imaginary OFC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-10-31 22:35:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17858273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GaiaMyles/pseuds/HixyStix
Summary: The Apocalypse has come to Jericho and Bill doesn’t know what the fuck’s going on anymore.  Vampires?  Werewolves?  Djinn?  Demons?  And what’s Crazy Oliver got to do with it?





	Who Will Save You Now?

**Author's Note:**

> Set pre-show Jericho, end season five Supernatural.
> 
> Thanks to [WarlockWriter](https://warlockwriter.tumblr.com/) and [Letzi](http://disizletzi.tumblr.com/) for beta-ing!
> 
> Amazing art by [OlloVae3](https://ollovae3.tumblr.com/)!

The window was down, letting a light breeze blow through the car.  The only sounds Bill heard were Jimmy’s light snores and the buzzing of bugs in the tall grass.

He drummed his fingers on the car door, wishing _something_ would happen.  He could wake Jimmy up and maybe they’d talk, but Bill was afraid Jimmy would want to talk about last night.

Last night was _not_ being discussed.  Bill’d had more whiskey than brains and tried to hit on the new elementary school teacher when he saw her at Bailey’s, only to be well and truly shot down.  Truth be told, it still stung.

Jimmy being Jimmy, he’d want to reassure Bill that someday he’d find someone.

Bill didn’t want to hear it anymore.  He wanted to focus on his job and protecting Jericho and that’d just have to be enough for him.

He sighed and closed his eyes, listening to the bugs and the wind and hoping for the rumble of an approaching car.

“Jimmy?  Bill?” crackled over the radio.  Judy, their radio controller, was more casual than most.  She didn’t bother using the proper codes when Jimmy and Bill were the only deputies on patrol.

Bill nudged Jimmy, waking him, and picked up the radio mike.  “This is Bill. We’re listening.”

“Head out to the Richmond Ranch.  Just got a report of a prowler in the corn fields.”

Someone in Stanley’s corn fields?  The prowler was lucky Stanley called in instead of just shooting him for trespassing.

Bill made a questioning face at Jimmy, who shrugged.

“Got it.  Heading there now.”  Bill set the mike back in its stand.  “Guess we’re going to see Stanley.”

They sped out to Stanley’s farm, lights flashing and Bill blaring the siren at anybody slowing them down.  Usually prowlers disappeared quickly, so they needed to get out there in a hurry.

Pulling up to the farmhouse, they found Stanley on the porch, looking out over his fields.

“Hey, guys,” he said lightly.  “You see what I see?”

Jimmy looked out and nodded.

Embarrassingly, Bill had to stand on his toes to see: at the far edge of the closest field, slowly moving towards them, was a person.  A stumbling person who looked lost.

“Drugs, you think?” Stanley asked.

“Might be,” Jimmy said.  “We’ll go talk to them.”

“I’m coming with you.”

Bill gave his friend a look.  “You called _us_ to handle it.”

“I knew it’d be you guys.  I just wanted backup.”

“Stanley, we are not your back–”  It was too late. Stanley and Jimmy were already off the porch and headed for the patrol car.  Bill had to jog to catch up.

Once Bill was in his seat, Jimmy drove down the bumpy farm path towards the possible druggie.

They got out not ten feet from the man, who seemed dazed.  He didn’t answer anything they asked him and seemed to have trouble focusing.  Bill could just barely tell that his pupils were dilated, like he’d just come from the optometrists’.

Bill stepped forward, hand on his weapon’s grip, placing himself between Stanley and this strange man.  Stanley might have come with them, but Bill wasn’t letting him get in any actual danger.

“Sir,” he repeated.  “You’re trespassing. You need to leave.”

Another step forward, then another step.  If the man didn’t respond, Bill planned to arrest him and see what Sheriff Dawes could get out of him.

Suddenly, the man moved quicker than anyone Bill had ever seen and pinned Bill to the ground.  He heard Jimmy draw and yell at the man, but he just bent his head down like he was trying to bite Bill.

Horrified, Bill watched as the man opened his mouth to show it was full of teeth.  Sharp teeth. Too many teeth.

Bill used one hand to hold the man’s face off him and the other to pull out his gun.  He fired into the man’s chest, but it didn’t seem to affect him. He emptied all six of his revolver’s bullets into the… the thing, but to no avail.

What the fuck?

Someone shoved the man off of Bill.  Bill hopped up just in time to see a machete hack off the man’s head.

He took aim again, this time at the newcomer, hoping Jimmy was backing him and his empty gun up.

The newcomer turned and Bill’s aim faltered.  “Oliver?” he asked, baffled.

He looked up and yes, it was Bill’s crazy second cousin.  Bill waved for Jimmy to drop his gun, too.

Oliver gave Bill a grin and wiped his machete with a rag.  “Damn things are out in the daytime now. Not at top form, but still fast as lightning,” he muttered.  “You kids want to help me bury it?”

“What the fuck was that thing?” Stanley asked, creeping up to prod the body with his steel-toed boot.

“Vampire.  I thought I had all the nests around here cleared out, but more must be moving in.”

Bill barked a laugh.  “Vampire?” he asked incredulously.  “Oliver, you’re insane.”

“Vampire.”  Oliver nodded.  “And I might be insane, but it’s a damn good thing I was tracking it or you’d’ve been in real trouble.  Help me carry the body to my truck.”

“Wait,” Jimmy said.  “You want _us_ to help _you_ move a body?”

“And then bury it.”

“No!” Jimmy said firmly.  “This is a crime scene! You just murdered someone!”

“Who was about to kill me,” Bill pointed out.  He agreed one hundred percent with Jimmy, but he felt that particular point was important.

“Well, yes, but…”  Jimmy looked around, frustrated.

Oliver watched them, amused.  “Bill shot him six times, has gun residue on him, _and_ this guy’s beheaded.  It’s overkill and you’re obviously involved.  You were here when he attacked Bill. You saw his teeth.  Who’s going to believe you?”

Bill didn’t have an answer to that.  He’d already tried to figure out how this one was going down in the paperwork.

“You need this swept under the rug and I’m the way to do it.  Bill, you get the head. Your buddy can help me with the body and farmer boy can turn the soil to hide the blood.”

 

Ten minutes later, they were following Oliver’s truck off onto a dirt path through the woods, still trying to figure out what was going on.

Bill thought they were headed out towards some hunting cabins, but Oliver stopped at a clearing about a mile in.

Jimmy pulled over and gave Bill a look.  “That’s _your_ cousin, right?  The crazy one who’s obsessed with aliens?”

Bill nodded.  “Yeah. I never talk to him much.  He keeps to himself.”

“He seemed kinda lucid for a crazy guy,” Stanley said quietly.

Bill couldn’t argue.  This was not the alien-obsessed man who showed up to family reunions.  This Oliver was too sure of himself, too in control. Bill almost believed him.

Oliver pounded on the patrol car’s hood.  “Come on, I need you to start digging.”

Jimmy shook his head.  “Your cousin. You can dig,” he told Bill.

Bill got out of the car and Oliver pointed him to a certain spot.  “No one’s buried there. Dig it deep.”

Bill looked around the clearing.  He could just make out multiple shallow mounds that looked like graves.  “Oliver, how many people do you have buried here?”

Oliver flashed him that toothy grin again.  “You don’t wanna know, kid.”

Bill gulped.

Jimmy and Stanley took their turns digging when Bill exhausted himself.  Both shot him angry looks, but said nothing.

Bill sat by a tree and watched, glancing occasionally at the head staring at him from Oliver’s truck bed.

What the hell had happened?  It was a simple prowler call and now he was hiding a body from the other deputies.  From the law he’d sworn to uphold.

But he couldn’t deny the fact that he’d been attacked by something more than human.  Or maybe less than. Oliver said it was a vampire and Bill didn’t know what else to call it.  The sheriff’s department certainly wasn’t prepared to deal with it.

“That’s deep enough,” Oliver said and threw the head in the hole before Stanley could scramble out of it.

Stanley swore.  “Jesus, man, watch what you’re doing!”

Oliver ignored him.  “Let’s get this done so you lot can get back before anyone realizes you’re missing.”

Jimmy and Oliver threw the body in and Bill started filling the hole, one shovelful at a time.

Maybe, when he finished, he could go home, crack open a beer, and forget today ever happened.

 

Bill followed his plan and drank himself to sleep, but he dreamed of teeth and heads and getting lost in the woods.  He woke the next morning just as exhausted as he’d been before sleep.

Jimmy barely talked to him during patrol, as if yesterday’s debacle had been Bill’s fault.

Bill couldn’t get it out of his head, though.  He wanted to deny it, to forget it like Jimmy was trying to, but he couldn’t.  There were vampires out there and he’d never known. His cousin killed those things and he’d never known.  If they hadn’t shown up, would that thing have attacked Stanley? Bonnie?

What else was out there?  What else was threatening Jericho?  How was he supposed to protect people from freaking vampires?

After work, Bill did the only thing he could: he visited Oliver.

Oliver opened the door and nodded, as if he’d been expecting Bill.  “Curiosity got the better of you, huh?”

Bill straightened himself.  “If those things are out there and are a danger to the town, I need to know how to fight them,” he said.  It was all very logical and good, but Oliver was right, too. There was a part of him curious what else Oliver would tell him.

“Come on in, kid,” Oliver said.  “And welcome to the hunting life.”

 

Bill was stunned.  It wasn’t just vampires.  It was ghosts and demons and werewolves and witches and just about every Halloween boogeyman.

It was all real.  Or so Oliver said.

“And this is what you do?  You kill these things? Before they come into Jericho?” Bill asked.

Oliver nodded.

“The alien shtick?”

“Gets people to leave me alone, doesn’t it?” Oliver said.  “Lets me get on with it in peace.”

Bill was terrified and wished he didn’t know any of this, but it was too late.  He knew and he was honor-bound to do something about it. “Teach me,” he said. “Let me help you.”

Oliver studied him appreciatively.  “I think you just might do, kid.”

He stood and motioned for Bill to follow him.  Oliver led him to his basement, which looked like no other basement Bill had ever seen.  Symbols covered the walls, shotguns were racked next to a display of different blades, and the equipment to reload ammo – both shells and centerfire – sat on a workbench.

“Normally I’d tell you to forget it,” Oliver said, “ _Really_ forget it all.  But truth is, right now things are tough and I need the help.  Heard from a guy up in South Dakota that it’s really and truly the Biblical apocalypse out there and Kansas is ground zero.  More things are moving through the area than I can keep up with.”

Bill shook his head.  “Wait, the Apocalypse?  That’s not–”

“It’s true.  Angels versus demons.  Haven’t you watched the news?  Seen what’s been going on?”

Well, no, Bill _hadn’t_ been watching the news.  He saw enough rough stuff in his job, he didn’t need to watch it on TV, too.

Oliver tsked at him.  “Earthquakes. Floods.  Volcanos. Towns disappearing overnight.  Monsters coming out of hiding. World’s going nuts, kid, and we’re in the middle of it.”

“But Kansas?  Why Kansas?”

“’Cause for some reason, it’s always Kansas.”

Bill sat down on the basement stairs, trying to take it all in.  “I can’t believe it.”

Oliver gave him a look.  “You go to church. I’ve seen you there.  Why’s it so hard to believe the Apocalypse is finally happening?”

Bill laughed.  “Because I never believed it would really happen in _my_ lifetime!”

“Oh,” said Oliver drily.  “It’s all just stories. Just like vampires.”

Bill’s shoulders slumped.  “The world’s really ending?”

“Depends who wins, I guess.  But until then, you’re gonna help me fight the things that spring up around here.”

Bill nodded, feeling a little sick.  “So what’s out there?”

“You know those teens that disappeared a couple days ago?”

Bill looked up.  This was firmer ground.  “We’re still looking for them.  Our best guess is they ran away.”

Oliver shook his head.  “I think they were caught by a djinn.”

“A what?”

“A djinn.  The basis for genies.  But they don’t grant wishes – they give you a dream life while they suck the actual life out of you.  Nasty things.” Oliver pulled out a map of Jericho. “I’ve almost got this one tracked down. They’re killed by silver, so your job is to get a silver knife of any type.  Tomorrow night we’ll hunt the bastard.”

Bill stood slowly.  Oliver was throwing him right in, wasn’t he?  “Just a silver knife? Would a dinner knife work?”

“If it’s pure silver.”

“Okay then.  I think I can get one,” Bill said.  If he remembered right, his mother had a set of silver stashed in their storage unit.  Bill had the key and could borrow a knife – and hopefully return it.

 

Bill fidgeted his entire shift.  It was bad enough Jimmy commented.

“What is up with you?” he asked.  “You’re jumpier than I’ve ever seen you.”

“Just sleep deprived,” Bill lied.  “Having nightmares about that thing.”

Jimmy frowned.  “We’re never mentioning that thing again,” he said, uncharacteristically vehement.

Bill nodded.  “Okay, then. Just sleep deprived in general.  How’s that?”

Jimmy looked concerned again, as if the previous exchange never happened.  “You can’t do that, man. You’ve got to get some rest. Would it help to stay with Margaret and me for a few nights?  Or with your parents?”

“No,” Bill said.  “I’ve gotta see this through on my own, I think.”

Jimmy looked at him warily.  “You’re not hanging out with your cousin, are you?”

Bill wouldn’t call it ‘hanging out’.  “No, I’m not,” he said, semi-truthfully.

Jimmy was silent for a moment, as if deciding whether to believe Bill or not.  He finally came down on the side of belief. “Okay. But seriously. Get some sleep tonight.  I need you alert and awake when we’re out.”

“I promise,” Bill said, hoping he could keep it.

 

Bill held up the silver dinner knife he’d dug out of the storage unit earlier.  “This good?” he asked when Oliver opened the door.

“It’ll do for now.  Sometime you’ll have to get yourself a real knife made of silver.  And one of iron and one of copper.”

“All that?” Bill asked.

“Different strokes for different folks,” Oliver said.

“Did you track the… the genie?” Bill asked.

Oliver tsked at him again.  “Djinn. You might think of getting a notebook and writing this all down so you don’t forget.”

“Do you have one?”

Oliver nodded.  “It’s downstairs, but I’ll let you flip through it while I get ready to go.”

Once they were in the basement, Oliver gave Bill a tattered notebook and a handful of bullets.  “Those are silver bullets. Should fit your gun. .38 special, right?”

Bill nodded.  He preferred the revolver to the 9mm guns some of the other deputies carried.  It didn’t hold as much ammo, but it jammed less and could stand a beating.

“Great.  Flip through that while I pack my bag.”

Bill sat on the basement stairs and looked at the notebook.  It’d seen some rough years, but it was full of information on monsters Bill knew about and quite a few he didn’t.  What was a Shtriga? A Trickster?

He made it halfway down the page about Tricksters when Oliver shouldered his bag.  “Okay, we’re heading out.”

Bill closed the book.  “Where are we going?”

“You know that abandoned barn about a mile down Route 23?  Djinn like ruins and a barn that’s falling apart seems to be good enough.”

Bill nodded.  He knew the place.  “What’s the plan?”

“Plan?” Oliver asked.  “Plan is you go free the teens while I take care of the djinn.  Your knife and bullets are for when the plan goes sideways.”

“’When’?” Bill quoted.

“Plans always go sideways.”

 

The plan went sideways.  The djinn was waiting for them.

And that was how Bill found himself pinned by a monster for the second time this week.  He tried to bring out his gun, but the djinn – a freakily strong tattooed thing – twisted his arm until he dropped it.  The djinn brought his hand up to Bill’s head and he could swear the thing started glowing blue and then–

 

Bill held out his hand and Jimmy helped him stand up.  “Whoever was out here seems to have moved on,” Jimmy said.  “You okay?”

Bill brushed hay off his uniform.  “Yeah. Just tripped on something.”

“Anna’d have my hide if I let you get hurt doing something as simple as a squatter check,” Jimmy said.

Anna?  Bill racked his brain.  He didn’t know any Annas.  But Jimmy seemed to think he did.  “Yeah, guess you’d better take care of me,” he joked, to keep Jimmy from suspecting anything.

Bill hopped in the driver’s seat of the patrol car and glanced at his watch.  “Looks like it’s time to go in.”

“Paperwork, here we come.”

Bill tried to remember what he needed to write up for the day, but nothing came to him.  In fact, he couldn’t remember _anything_ about today before he tripped in the barn.  “Uh,” he said. “I think I might have hit my head when I fell.  I’m going to skip out on paperwork today if you think you can handle it.”

Jimmy eyed Bill.  “Concussion?”

Bill rubbed the back of his head.  “Maybe. Not a serious one, though.  I probably just need to get some sleep.”

Jimmy nodded.  “Okay. I’ll get the paperwork today, but you owe me.”

Bill drove them back to the station, gathered up his things, and left for his apartment.

There was a strange car in front of his building.  Bill thought he knew every one of his neighbor’s vehicles, but this 90s Grand Prix was new.  Maybe someone had company.

Tired, he trudged up the stairs to his apartment.  His key worked, but the apartment looked different than he remembered.

There was his hand-me-down couch and TV set, but there were… decorations around them.  Pictures on the wall. A pink coat hanging from the hooks by the door. It actually smelled nice, like fresh cornbread.

And he could hear someone singing in the kitchen.  A woman’s voice.

Bill put his hand lightly on his holster, ready to unsnap it if necessary, and snuck in to look at the pictures.

They were of him with a short, attractive redhead.  He couldn’t remember taking them, but it looked as if he was enjoying himself in them.

Maybe he hit his head harder than he’d thought.

“Bill?  Love? Is that you?” came the voice from the kitchen.

Bill slowly dropped his hand from his holster and walked to the kitchen.

The redhead was in there, battering and frying chicken breasts.  She was dressed in skinny jeans and a tight short sleeved top, hair pulled back in a messy bun.  Bill thought she might come up to his shoulders.

“Hey,” she said.  “How was work? Dinner’ll be ready in about twenty minutes.”

Bill stared, mouth watering.  “I, uh. I fell and hit my head on a call,” he admitted.  “I thought it was nothing, but I’m starting to think I may need to go to the clinic.”

Bill glanced across the hall into the bedroom.  It definitely looked like more than one person lived there.

He was starting to put things together.  He lived with this woman, who must be the Anna Jimmy mentioned, but for some reason, he couldn’t remember anything about her.

“Let me finish the chicken and I’ll check you,” she said practically.  “You go change and dinner will be ready soon after.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Bill said.  He went in the bedroom and looked around.  One half of the closet was open and full of women’s clothes.  He briefly flipped through them and noticed hospital scrubs.

Anna must be a nurse.  That’s why she said she’d check his head.  Bill was slowly building a more complete picture in his mind.

He slid the door to open the other half of the closet and found familiarity.  There were his clothes and uniforms, all squeezed in so Anna’s clothes would fit, too.

Bill pulled out some jeans and a warm flannel.  It wasn’t too cold – spring was coming in – but it was comforting and familiar.  He needed that right now.

He hesitated before changing and considered closing the door so Anna couldn’t see him, but decided that would probably be out of character.  If they lived together, they’d slept together, and she’d seen him naked. Too bad he couldn’t remember seeing her like that or what they’d done together.

Bill stripped down to his boxers and undershirt and heard an appreciative whistle from the kitchen.  He blushed and yanked on the jeans.

Laughter.  “You shy today, hon?”

He gulped.  “Just tired,” he tried.  “A little headachey.”

He heard Anna work in the kitchen and then wash her hands.  “Sit on the bed,” she instructed, following him into the bedroom.

“Food won’t burn?” he asked.  It smelled wonderful. He couldn’t remember eating home cooked meals since he moved out of his parents’ place.

“Not if you do what I say.”  Anna stood in front of him and very gently felt around his skull.  “Anything particularly sore?”

“No,” Bill said truthfully.  “But I’m having trouble remembering some stuff.”

Anna took a step back and looked at his eyes, shining a small flashlight that she’d grabbed from a bedside drawer.  “What can’t you remember?”

Bill paused.  Telling her he couldn’t remember their relationship probably wouldn’t go over well, so he went with work.  “Pretty much everything that happened on shift today before I fell.”

“Hm.  Retrograde amnesia is pretty damn rare, Bill.  You’re not reacting like you got a concussion.”  She thought. “If you don’t get those memories back after you sleep tonight, maybe you _should_ come by the clinic.  Dr. Green will probably refer you to Rogue River for an EEG or an MRI, but try us first.”

She kissed his forehead.  “Come on, let’s eat dinner before it burns.”

Bill sat there for a moment, watching her go.  It was a nice sight. He could get used to that.  All of this.

 

After dinner, Bill was ready to marry this woman.  He’d never had food so good. What had he done in life to deserve a woman who could cook like that?

He flopped on the couch, too full to move, after helping load the dishwasher and taking out the trash.  Anna joined him, rearranging his legs so she could lie atop him, her head on his chest.

“Our show’s coming on,” she said.  Bill handed her the remote and she flipped to some show about the CIA.  It wasn’t half bad, he decided after it aired.

“You wouldn’t leave me for Terri, would you?” Anna asked mischievously.

“Only if you left me for Stiles,” Bill replied, arms wrapped around her.  He was happily settling in to this life.

“Mm, Lex is more my type, but Stiles is pretty easy on the eyes too,” Anna said before laughing.

She stood and tugged Bill’s arm.  “I’m taking you to bed.”

Bill glanced at the clock.  “It’s not bedtime yet.”

“Who said anything about sleep?” Anna asked.  “If you can’t remember most of today, I’d better give you _something_ to remember.”

Oh, man.  For Bill, this felt like a weirdly domestic first date.  Was he ready to be intimate with Anna?

His body said ‘Hell yes’ as she started stripping.

She was slender, not too curvy, and she had a tattoo of a flowery vine going up her left side that Bill quite liked.  He’d never liked tattoos before, but he’d certainly make an exception for Anna.

She stopped before taking off her pants.  “You’ve got to get undressed for this to work.  You remember that much, don’t you?” she said, grinning.

Bill shook himself and unbuttoned his shirt.  Anna slipped off her jeans and sashayed up to Bill in nothing but lacy underwear.

His dick was definitely interested, almost to the point of hurting.

Anna rubbed him through the jeans before unbuttoning him, garnering a happy but impatient moan.  Bill took off his undershirt as quickly as possible while Anna slid his jeans down and started teasing him through his boxers with dancing fingers.  He yanked those down quickly and stepped out of his clothes.

It hit him that he was now completely naked and fully aroused in front of a near stranger, but his body didn’t care, especially when Anna sat him down on the bed and went to her knees in front of him.

Oh, this was really happening.  Bill inhaled sharply as she took him in her mouth, using her hands to completely envelop him.  She started moving and Bill wondered how long he could possibly last. He knew this must have happened to him in the recent past, but it’d been years since the last time he remembered having sex – and his body was acting like that was the case.

Anna moved one of her hands and massaged his inner thigh, working her way to his balls and Bill gasped for breath.  Anna knew just how to touch him with her fingers, with her tongue, with her teeth. It was as if she’d popped straight out of his wet dreams and there was no way Bill was gonna be able to hold out much longer.  “Anna, babe, honey, I’m so close,” he panted out.

He thought she might stop, but his words seemed to spur her on.  With an almost yelled, “Fuck!”, Bill came right in Anna’s mouth and collapsed back on the bed.

She swallowed.  Jesus, she even made that look sexy.

Anna stood slowly and unsnapped her bra and let it slide down her arms.  Bill’s limbs were still jelly or he’d be reaching out to cup her breasts.

“Up,” she said.  “My turn on the bed.”

“When I can move,” Bill said.

Anna laughed and slipped her panties off.  Apparently she was a natural – and well-groomed – redhead.

She crawled on top of him, kissing her way up his chest before flopping on her back beside him.  She kissed his cheek and Bill turned his head to kiss her back.

She grinned at him.  “I must’ve done a good job that time.  Usually you’ve got me thrown back on the bed by now.”

Bill forced himself to roll over so he was on propped up over her.  “Oh, you did,” he said. “I think I owe you.”

Anna crawled backwards up the bed until Bill found himself kneeling between her legs.  She spread them willingly and oh, Bill hoped he was up to this. He hadn’t done this to a woman in years.

Bill started with kisses and nips on the inside of her thighs, moving up as he went.  He licked all around her and smiled when he heard her whimper. One big lick – God, she tasted good – and he stuck his tongue inside her.  That got a squirm and a breathy “Bill!”

Hearing his name like that sent a shiver down Bill’s spine.  He replaced his tongue with fingers, curling inside her, and kissed her lower stomach.

“Stop teasing me,” Anna said, her legs wrapping around Bill’s back.  She reached down and shoved his head between her legs.

What else could Bill do but obey?  He started lapping at her as if it was his job.  She writhed above him, holding his head in place and panting encouragements and instruction.  Anna was _not_ quiet about what she wanted.

Bill appreciated that.  It took a lot of the guesswork out.  He knew he was doing well when her breathing sped up and shallowed.  The noises went straight to his dick, which was waking back up. Bill didn’t let that distract him from Anna and soon she yelped and pushed him away.

Bill hovered over her, watching her orgasm through her facial expressions.  His body was certainly interested again, but he wasn’t sure about Anna.

“Inside me,” she instructed, pulling him towards her.  “I want you inside me _now_.”

Using one hand to guide himself, he obeyed.  Oh, he was already sensitive and she felt wonderful around him.

“Roll over,” Anna told him and Bill did, bringing her with him.  Anna started moving and Bill had just enough mental capacity left to admire her thigh strength.

Anna kept moving, making little gasps and whimpers that made Bill moan in reply.  He pushed up inside her every time she came down and he was so deep and it was so wonderful and he was so close and–

 

–Bill’s eyes fluttered open and everything came crashing back in his mind.

None of that was real.  It felt real, but it was all the djinn.  He’d let himself get caught on his first hunt.

“Fucking hell,” Bill swore.  His arms were tied up and it looked like he’d been dumped in a stall.  Across from him, two teenagers were waking up, too. They looked pale and malnourished, but they were alive.

Bill tried to stand and found that he was tied to the wall, as well – but by a tube draining his blood, not a rope.  The two teens had the same setup. It looked like the djinn raided a blood donation center for its supplies.

“It’s okay,” he told the kids.  “I’m a deputy sheriff for Jericho.  You guys are going to go home now.”

The girl started crying.  In relief, Bill hoped.

“You’re tied up, too,” the boy said.  “How’re you getting us out of here? And what was that thing?  Why did I have this dream where…” The boy blushed, unwilling to go on.

Bill knew exactly how he felt.

“You’re getting out because he’s here with me,” Oliver said, stepping into the stall.  He held a bloody silver knife in one hand and Bill’s gun in the other.

He cut the bindings on the teens and helped free them from the blood donation gear before doing the same to Bill.  Bill eagerly took back his gun.

Bill stood shakily and offered his hand to the girl, helping her stand.

“Oliver, we need to get them to the clinic.”

“Hospital in Rogue River’s safer,” Oliver said, helping up the boy.

The four of them limped to Oliver’s beaten up van.  Bill stopped before getting in and looked back at the barn.

“Where’s the djinn?” he asked.  “I assume we woke up because you killed it.”

“Good guess,” Oliver said.  “I buried him in some hay in the loft.  No one will probably come close enough to ever find him.”

Bill didn’t find that too reassuring.

Oliver coached the teens on what to say at the hospital.  He drove faster than Bill was comfortable with to Rogue River and let the teens out at the entrance to the emergency room.  Bill privately wanted to walk them in and make sure they got care, but Oliver was right – they needed to stay anonymous.

Bill had been thinking and he didn’t like what he came up with.  “You used me as bait,” he accused. “You sent me in there unprepared and _planned_ for me to get caught.  To use me as a distraction while the djinn was dealing with me.”

Oliver glanced at him before looking at the road again.  “You’re smarter than I gave you credit for.”

“Don’t ever do that again,” he said, voice as menacing as he could make it.  “ _Tell_ me if you need me to be the distraction.  I have training that might come in handy.”

From Oliver’s grin, he wasn’t too intimidating, but hopefully the point was made.

“So I’m curious.  What wishes did the djinn fulfil for you?” Oliver asked, halfway home.

“I didn’t know about monsters, for one,” Bill said.

“And for two?”

Bill didn’t answer.

“Ah,” said Oliver knowingly.  “A girl.”

Bill glowered.

When they got back to Oliver’s, he told Bill to plan on showing up again the next night.  Bill tiredly agreed.

Bill trudged into his apartment – alone, just how he left it – around midnight.  Four and a half hours until his alarm went off.

He collapsed in bed and prayed he wouldn’t dream of anything from the djinn world.

 

“What did I tell you about getting sleep?” Jimmy chided gently.

Bill stifled a yawn.  “I know. I tried and I failed.”

“Did you try taking anything?  Tylenol PM, maybe?”

Bill shook his head.  “Those things don’t filter out of my body in time.  I’m sluggish in the morning.”

“Can’t be much worse than now,” Jimmy pointed out.

Bill had to give him that point.

Maybe he needed to tell Oliver he was taking a night off.  Bill got the impression you didn’t get a night off from hunting, though.

Bill pushed through his shift and went home for a nap.  He woke up just before dark and barely made it to Oliver’s in time.

Oliver looked him over.  “I thought you might drop out after last night.”

“I said I’d do this.  I keep my word,” Bill said.

“Well, the good news is that there’s nothing to hunt tonight.”

Maybe he could go sleep.  “The bad news?”

“That means it’s classroom time, kid.”

“Classroom time?”

Oliver led the way to the basement.  “You want to stay the bait forever? No?  Then there’s stuff to learn.”

Bill took the journal from Oliver again.  “What stuff?”

Oliver leaned against the stairwell.  “Well, since you’re a deputy, I can assume you know how to shoot shotgun as well as that revolver.”

Bill nodded.  He was quite proud of his marksmanship.

“How about hand-to-hand?”

Bill shrugged.  “I was decent at it in the Academy, but I’m often at a size disadvantage.”

“Can you fight dirty?” Oliver asked.

“I…  I don’t know,” Bill admitted.  “I’ve never tried to.”

“You need to let yourself.  Release those inhibitions and other crap like that.  Monsters don’t follow sparring rules. You need every advantage you can get.”

That made sense.  Bill would have to fight his instincts, but if it kept him safe…

“Now you’ve got to learn the things we see around here the most and how to kill them.  We’ll start with vampires, since you’ve had the pleasure of meeting one.”

Oliver handed Bill a blank composition notebook and a pen.

“You want me to take notes?” Bill asked.

Oliver gave him a look.  “And here I was thinking you were smart.  Of _course_ you need notes.  I told you that the other day.”

Bill flushed in embarrassment.

“Okay,” he said, hoping to distract Oliver, “tell me about vampires.”

 

Bill and Jimmy stood there, in the yard of Carlson’s Granary, staring at a body.

They’d ID’d it as a Jericho resident, Todd Varner, who was an employee of the Granary.  Bill could almost believe it was an industrial accident, except for one thing.

“It looks like something tried to get at his heart,” Jimmy said, confused.

Bill crouched over the body and shined his flashlight into the gaping hole in the man’s chest.  “Jimmy, it looks like they succeeded.”

Tickling the back of his brain was Oliver’s lecture last night on werewolves.  They always eat the heart. But he couldn’t share that with Jimmy.

They tracked down Matt Carlson, who was looking faintly sick in his office.  “Todd’s my night guard,” he said. “Never had trouble from him.”

“Do you know anyone who might have wanted to hurt him?” Jimmy asked, notepad out and ready.

Carlson shook his head.  “He was a quiet guy. Wife, one kid.  Went to the Catholic church. Never made anyone mad that I saw.  He was a big enough guy most people left him alone.”

Bill inwardly groaned.  Family notifications were so much tougher when kids were involved.  Jimmy always made him do it because he couldn’t deal with it.

They finished questioning Carlson and the few other employees who’d arrived and seen the body.  No one had anything of substance.

If this were a regular case, Bill would be stymied.  No leads, odd cause of death, no clue where to start.  But he was pretty sure this wasn’t a regular case.

Over lunch, he snuck out his phone and texted Oliver the details.

“Who’re you texting?” Jimmy asked, between bites of sandwich.

Bill was sometimes surprised at their ability to eat after seeing gruesome things, but it was all part of the job.  Eventually you just got used to it.

“Uh,” he said.  “Mom wants me over for dinner tonight and wanted to know if I had any requests.”

Jimmy chuckled.  “Nothing like a mom’s cooking, huh?”

Bill tried not to think of Anna’s cooking in his djinn dream.  “Yeah, guess there’s never anything like it.”

 

Against his better judgment, Bill made copies of the crime scene photos he’d taken.  At the end of his shift, he snuck them out in his folded-up jacket.

“Good work,” Oliver said when he handed them over.  “Maybe I should’ve tapped you earlier.”

Bill plopped on Oliver’s sofa, tired and frustrated with himself for breaking secrecy rules – but what other choice did he have?

“Definitely looks like werewolf work,” Oliver mused.  “First night of the full moon was last night. Closest pack’s southeast of Hays, so the wolf isn’t local.”

Bill blinked a few times to wake up.  “So we need to find someone new in town?”

“You do,” Oliver said.  “You’ve got the resources.  Worst case scenario, there’s another body in the morning.  Best case, this thing was just moving through the area and isn’t our problem anymore.”

“We can’t let it kill someone else!” Bill protested.

“It’s not ideal,” Oliver said, “but do you have a way to get that information tonight?”

Bill sighed.  “I can go back into work and say I couldn’t sleep.  That I’m following a hunch. Call the local motels and get the guest lists, run the names.”

“Definitely should have tapped you earlier,” Oliver said.

Bill used his keys and snuck into the station.  It was dark and quiet: Riley and Salem, the two deputies on duty, must be out on patrol.

Good.  That gave him privacy.  What he was about to do was technically illegal, after all.

Bill did exactly as he told Oliver: he called each of Jericho’s three motels and got the guest list for the night before, making note of who was still here.  He ran background checks on each name and two popped up as suspicious.

Eleanor Castillo moved a lot.  A _lot_.  And interestingly, her movements coincided with a Jason Lackey that was also in town.  Even more interesting, they’d both moved after a string of murders happened in each location.  Bill was willing to bet the dead were missing their hearts.

Both were still in town, at the Morningside Inn down by the interstate.  Bill called the motel and asked them to check if Castillo and Lackey were still in their rooms.

They weren’t.

Shit.

Bill grabbed his gun and drove as fast as he dared to Oliver’s place.  He relayed what he’d found out.

Oliver nodded.  “I think you got ‘em, kid.  Let’s go find ‘em. Still got your silver bullets?”

Bill dug in his pocket for the six silver rounds.

Oliver looked at the bullets in Bill’s hand and nodded.  “Good work, kid.”

 

They checked the granary, just in case, but Oliver said they probably wouldn’t hunt in the same place twice.

But they might have the same M.O.  Night guards were usually minimally armed, if at all, and alone, at least in this area of the country.  They’d be easy pickings.

Oliver drove slowly once they neared the salt mine.  Bill watched out the window and spotted a car hidden in the tall prairie grass half a mile from the mine.  He’d be willing to bet that if he ran the plates, it’d come up as either Castillo or Lackey’s.

Oliver pulled over on the opposite side of the road and grabbed a shotgun from the back of his van.  “We’ll walk from here.”

As they walked, Oliver quietly reminded Bill of werewolf lore.  “They’re strong suckers and fast, too. With two of them, we need to be ready with the silver.”

Bill nodded, filing it away in his brain.  Now that they were out, working, he was more awake.  It was instinct – his body knew it had to be alert to survive.  The crisp night air didn’t hurt, either. He checked his grip on his revolver once more and patted his pocket to make sure his silver knife was still there.

They crept up to the gate of the salt mine.  Oliver silently pointed to the broken chain and Bill nodded.  Someone was already here and from the look of it, they’d ripped the chain apart with bare hands – two bent and broken links lay on the ground.

Bill knew he’d be back out here in the morning with Jimmy to investigate a break-in.  How would Jimmy process something like this broken chain?

Oliver slid the gate open.  It creaked, making both men wince.  When the hole was just big enough to slide through, Oliver motioned him forward.

Oh great.  Bill was taking point.  Again. Hopefully he wasn’t the unknowing bait, too.

Bill held his revolver up and ready as he scanned the mine’s yard.  No people, though he thought he saw gravel kicked down to dirt level near the mine’s entrance.  He pointed it out to Oliver, who nodded.

A sick feeling in his stomach told him they might be too late.  With any luck, these werewolves liked to play with their food.

He walked by the gravel spot and sure enough, there were two lines dug out, like a man struggling to stand and run.  Shallow ruts showed he quit fighting and was dragged into the mine.

Oliver walked past Bill and into the mine without looking at the evidence Bill was already mentally cataloguing.  Bill had to step quickly to catch up.

They were too late.  The werewolves were bent over a body, feeding.

BIll got one shot off and the man – Lackey, it must be – fell.

Castillo growled hideously and turned to Oliver and Bill.  She leapt and Bill saw that her fingers ended in claws.

He barely jumped out of the way, but Oliver was older and a little slower.  Castillo shredded his leg and Oliver yelped.

“Shoot her, damn it!” he yelled.

Bill pulled his gun up and aimed, but Castillo had already turned on him.  She caught Bill by the throat and squeezed.

He couldn’t breathe.  His throat was being crushed.  Shaking, he realized he’d dropped his gun, so he went for his silver knife.  He had it out and was trying to garner the energy to stab Castillo before he blacked out when he heard a shotgun go off.

Bill gasped for air and realized that he’d been shot, too:  three shotgun pellets in the side, it felt like.

It didn’t matter, though, the shotgun blast got Castillo off him.  It seemed to piss her off, but it slowed her down as well. Oliver must have packed the shells with silver shot.  Bill was able to grab his dropped revolver and hit her twice in the chest.

She stopped and crumpled to the ground.

Bill breathed a sigh of relief.  The motion hurt, so he pulled up his shirt and looked at his side.  Like he thought, three holes that probably still held three pellets.  “Fucking ow,” he muttered.

“Little help here?” Oliver said and Bill remembered his leg.

He knelt by Oliver and gently pulled his ruined pants away from his skin.  “You’re gonna need stitches,” he said. “I’ll go get the van and come pick you up.  What hospital do you want?”

Oliver looked at him like he was stupid.  “No hospitals, boy. You’ll stitch me up when we get back to my place.  Just tie a tourniquet for now.”

Bill knew enough first aid to know that a tourniquet was probably not the best way to treat Oliver’s wounds, but he didn’t argue.  He ripped up Oliver’s pants leg until he had a piece long enough to tie around his thigh.

Once he was done, Bill helped Oliver up.  Oliver limped over to the guard and shook his head.  “Poor bastard’s gone,” he said.

“We weren’t quick enough,” said Bill, wishing he’d researched faster.

“No, this guy was doomed whatever.  Thanks to you, we found them on the second night of the full moon.  If it’d just been me, it’d’ve taken me all three nights. You saved _somebody_ out there.”

Oliver pulled on Bill’s knowledge to stage the crime scene to make it look like the murderers left.  They picked up shells and spent casings, dusted footprints out of the dirt floor, covered up inconvenient blood stains, and Bill fireman carried both bodies out to the mine’s gates.  He walked back to pick up the van and brought it to the gates, where Oliver waited for him.

They went back out to the clearing in the woods.  Bill dug the hole by himself, ignoring the piercing pain in his side, and they dumped both bodies in together.

By the time they made it back to Oliver’s, Bill was physically and emotionally worn out.  Unfortunately he wasn’t done.

Oliver pulled out some whiskey and walked him through sewing up the gashes on his leg.  When that was done, he dug the pellets out of Bill’s side. Both men swigged multiple gulps of the whiskey for pain relief as well as using it for antiseptic.

“Ahh,” Oliver sighed when he was done.  “Another successful hunt.”

“Successful?” Bill asked.  “Someone died and you shot me!”

“Inadvertently,” Oliver said in his defense.  “You were just too close. In the range of pellet spray.”

Bill glared at him, but Oliver was nonplussed.

“Go home and get some sleep, kid.  I’ll call if I need you tomorrow.”

Bill stood.  “You keep those stitches clean,” he instructed.  “I don’t want to come back and find you’ve got gangrene.”

Oliver rolled his eyes.  “Not my first rodeo.”

 

Jimmy stood over the second body with his hand on his hips.  Bill moved around him, snapping pictures and casually looking for any mistakes he and Oliver made.

“This guy’s heart is almost gone.  It looks… chewed,” Jimmy said. “And these gashes in his stomach almost look like claws.”

“Think a bear wandered down here?” Bill asked innocently.

“How’d a bear break in?  That chain was broken by brute force, but it took intelligence to know to break it.”

Bill shrugged.  “They say bears are pretty intelligent.  I don’t know.”

Following protocol, they took statements, waited for the coroner, and then went to go notify the latest family.

At least this guy didn’t have kids, Bill thought as he strapped on his seat belt.

Suddenly, Jimmy reached across the console and slapped him in the side with the back of his hand.  Bill involuntarily gave a short scream of pain.

“What the hell?” he yelled.

Jimmy looked angry.  “You’re hurt. I saw you favoring that side.  And now after I hit you, there’s blood coming through your shirt.”

Bill looked down and Jimmy was right.  Bill pulled his shirt away from his skin, hoping to stop the stains.

“What’d you do?”

Bill glared at Jimmy, silently.

“You’ve got an unexplained injury, you’ve been missing sleep, and now something freaking weird is happening in Jericho.  Either we have a messed up serial killer or it’s something to do with your cousin and that _thing_.”  Jimmy looked Bill in the eyes.  “I’m going to ask you again, are you working with Oliver?”

Bill sighed.  A question he couldn’t misdirect.  “I am,” he admitted. “Once I found out those things exist, I had to learn how to fight them.  To keep Jericho safe. Don’t you feel the same?”

“I have _kids_ , Bill.  A wife. And more sense than you, apparently.”  Jimmy drummed his fingers on the steering wheel.  “So is this one of Oliver’s things?”

“It was.  Werewolves.  He and I killed them last night,” Bill said.  Now that Jimmy knew, he might as well tell him everything.  “It’s how I took a shotgun blast in the side.”

Jimmy looked at him incredulously.  “ _Werewolves_?  To go along with vampires?  You’re crazy.”

“Yeah, I’m half sure of that myself,” Bill muttered.  “But I’ve seen these monsters now. Vampires, werewolves, something called a djinn that sent me into some alternate reality.  That’s what had those teens that showed up in Rogue River, by the way. We dropped them off at the hospital there.”

“This is nuts, Bill.”  Jimmy shook his head. “All this stuff can’t exist.”

Bill laughed hollowly.  “Apparently it does. Oliver says there’s more of them out there now because the Biblical Apocalypse is happening.  There’s gonna be a fight between Heaven and Hell and it’s gonna be soon. And the worst thing?” Bill looked at Jimmy, desperately.  “I think I believe him.”

Jimmy stared at Bill, disbelieving.  “I think you need to take a few days off and get some sleep,” he said finally.  “Maybe you’ll come to your senses.”

Bill was indignant.  “Don’t believe me? Just look – there’s a car hidden about half a mile down this way.  Registered to an Eleanor Castillo or a Jason Lackey, both of whom have a history of moving towns frequently, often coinciding with a string of murders.  I didn’t call the local police, but I’m sure the vics were missing their hearts, too.”

Jimmy didn’t say anything, but he did drive down the road.  The car was still there. Bill waited while Jimmy called in the plates – and they came back registered to Castillo.

Bill crossed his arms and waited triumphantly for Jimmy to say he was right.

“You used our work systems to look stuff up for Oliver?” Jimmy asked.  Not what Bill was expecting.

“Technically, I was following a hunch on a case you and I are working,” Bill protested.

“But you shared that information with him!  You abused your position to help that… that… to help Crazy Oliver!”

“And we caught the killers before they got to anyone else!”

“You should have come to _me_!” Jimmy said, thumping the steering wheel.

Bill shook his head.  “You made it pretty clear you didn’t want to know about any of this stuff, Jimmy.  I was just respecting that.”

Jimmy stared at the road ahead and was quiet for a minute.  “I don’t know if I can trust you any more,” he said sadly.

Bill’s breath caught.  His partner not trust him?  That was like being dumped. Actually, it was worse, because Jimmy was the one person he trusted completely.

“Just think of it as a new information source.  We can look stuff up on the computers, but we can also look stuff up with Oliver,” he tried.

“You’re asking me to look the other way while you share confidential case details.  To cover for you when you get hurt. To leave cases officially unsolved when I know you handled it outside work.  You’re asking a hell of a lot, Bill.”

Bill knew it was true.

Jimmy pulled back into the station.  “Go home, Bill. Take the rest of the day off.  I’ve got some thinking to do.”

 

Jimmy didn’t want him.  Oliver didn’t need him. And there was no one waiting for him at home.

Bill crashed on his bed and stared at the ceiling, thoughts racing.  In less than a week, his whole world had changed and he wasn’t sure he liked it.

He’d thought he was fulfilling his sense of honor and duty, but Jimmy disagreed.

And Jimmy was usually right.

Bill couldn’t go back to ignorance.  Couldn’t go back to before the vampire.  Hell, the djinn dream alone was going to haunt him for years to come.  He’d seen too much to lead to a normal life.

What if Jimmy decided to tell the Sheriff he’d snuck out confidential information?  Misused his work computer?

What if he got fired?  What if he’d ruined his career?

Bill didn’t know how to _do_ anything else other than be a deputy.

What would be worse, though – losing his job or losing Jimmy as a friend?  He’d still have Stanley, as long as Stanley never found out about hunting.

He would eventually.  Stanley wasn’t stupid.  He knew about the vampire, too.  He’d suspect Bill was working with Oliver maybe even quicker than Jimmy.

Ugh.  Bill’s life was ruined and it was all because of that damn vampire.

Bill managed to get up long enough to change out of his uniform, but he crawled straight back into bed.

Things always looked better after sleep – and he definitely needed sleep.

 

Bill woke an hour before his alarm.  Not enough time to go back to sleep, so he got up and fixed himself breakfast – he’d slept through both lunch and dinner yesterday and his stomach was _growling_.

He plopped down in front of the TV with his scrambled eggs and turned on the Weather Channel.  He could hear rain outside now, but wanted to know how long it would last. He couldn’t prepare for Jimmy’s mood, but he _could_ dress properly.

May days were usually warm and dry in western Kansas, so he was surprised to see storms on the radar map.  If he wasn’t seeing things, that looked like a hurricane with the eye centered over Lawrence.

 _That_ was weird.

Was it Oliver weird, though?  He picked up his cell phone and texted Oliver, just in case he was still up for the night.

The phone rang almost immediately.  “You’re on to something, kid. Got a call from my South Dakota buddy.  He and his friends are on their way to Stull Cemetery. That’s where the final showdown’s going to be.  Noon today.”

“Apocalypse showdown?” Bill asked.

“One and the same.  I think we can expect a busy morning.  Maybe a busy rest of our lives, depending who wins.”

“Oliver, I’ve got work.”

“Call in sick.  I think the Apocalypse rates a day off.  Be at my place yesterday.”

Bill hung up.  He could call in sick, but Jimmy would _know_ and that might piss him off more.  But what if Oliver was right and more monsters were going to pop up today?

Bill called the station and got the night dispatcher, Cindy.  “Tell Jimmy and the Sheriff I’m out today. Don’t want anyone to catch what I’ve got,” he lied, hating himself a little.

“Get better, hon,” Cindy said kindly.  She was as old as Bill’s mom and called everyone “hon” or “sweetie.”  Bill found it sort of endearing.

It made lying to her that much harder.  But Bill stuck to his story, grabbed a flannel shirt to put over his tee, and left for Oliver’s.

“Took you long enough,” Oliver said.  “I need to teach you about demons, because I think we’ll see some prowling around today.”

“Demons?” Bill asked.

“Demons.  Worse than anything else I’ve taught you about – and you can’t kill ‘em.  You can send them back to hell, though, and that’s what you’re going to learn before you leave here today.”  Oliver handed him his notebook, opened to a page with a short Latin passage. “That’s a short form exorcism. Should work on most demons, unless we run into a high ranking one.  If that happens, we’re dead anyway.”

“Optimistic,” Bill commented wryly.  He peered at the page. How was he going to memorize Latin?  He barely memorized poems and passages in English back at school.

Bill copied it down in his notebook, though.  “Hey, Oliver,” he asked. “Will this work in a recording?  My phone’s got a voice memo feature.”

Oliver looked like he was going to laugh, but stopped.  “You know, I have no clue. Worth a shot.”

Bill pulled out his phone – a ruggedized flip phone he hadn’t managed to break yet – and clicked until he brought up the microphone.  He recorded himself reading the Latin, hopefully getting the pronunciation right, and saved the memo. He didn’t know if he’d be able to bring it up in time if he ran into a demon, but it might give him an edge.

Hopefully he never had to test the theory.

Oliver drilled him until he had the passage memorized and then shared demon lore with him.  Bill diligently took notes.

 

A knock at the door.  Bill glanced up at Oliver, who shrugged.

Oliver grabbed his pistol and held it by his leg as he approached the door.  Bill did the same, sitting on the edge of his seat; he was on alert and ready to jump up if necessary.

Oliver opened the door slightly and relaxed.  “It’s your buddy,” he said, stepping to the side.

“Jimmy?” Bill said, confused.  He holstered his gun again, though.  Jimmy was no threat. “What are you doing here?”

“I thought this is where I’d find you.”  Jimmy sounded cold and Bill shivered. He must be really mad.

Bill’s shoulders slumped.  “I’m not skipping out on you for no reason.  There’s something big happening and we’re trying to be ready.”

Jimmy wandered in past Oliver and over to Bill.  He looked down at Bill’s notebook with something like disdain, flipping back a few pages.  “Oh,” he said lightly. “The meatsuit was right. You are hunters.”

A chill ran down Bill’s spine and he looked up just in time to see Jimmy’s eyes turn an inky black.

Fuck!  A demon had Jimmy!

Before he could warn Oliver, Jimmy’s arms shot out and Bill was knocked out of his seat and slammed against the wall.  A crushing pressure covered his chest and he gasped for breath. His feet dangled helplessly in the air. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Oliver similarly pressed up against the back of the door.

What the fuck was he supposed to do now?

Bill tried to reach for his gun again.  He managed to get his hand on his holster, but the demon saw him.  Jimmy’s fist closed and Bill screamed. It was like his hand was caught in a vise.  One by one, he felt the bones in his right hand break.

The demon grinned, laughing at Bill’s pained and betrayed expression.  “None of that, now. We’re just getting started, you and I. And you wouldn’t want to hurt poor Jimmy, would you?”  He looked back at Oliver and turned his hand. Oliver’s head turned and Bill heard a sickening snap.

“No!” he cried, with all the air he could muster.

“Yes,” said the demon, sauntering closer and looking at him curiously.  “You’re going to die today, but it’s going to be nice and slow so the meatsuit can watch.  He _cares_ about you, you know that?”

“Get out of Jimmy,” Bill pled.  “You can have me instead.”

“No, I like a meatsuit with some authority and this one’s definitely got more than you,” the demon said.  “A nice uniform, access to weapons. No, I’ll be keeping this one for a bit. And won’t people feel sorry for him when his partner turns up dead?  They’ll do anything for him, at least until they find out he killed his family, too.”

Shit, he couldn’t let the demon get to Jimmy’s family.  Bill racked his brain, trying to remember the exorcism he’d just memorized.  “ _Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus_ –”

The demon flicked Jimmy’s wrist and Bill felt an invisible gag fill his mouth.  “Shush.”

Bill desperately glanced across the room to where Oliver lay, immobile.  Or rather, where his _body_ lay.  Bill’d seen enough dead bodies to recognize one.

Damn it!  Oliver had said they’d work together to take down any demons they met.  He wasn’t prepared for this on his own – any of it!

But Bill _was_ on his own now and he was pretty sure the demon was right.  He was going to die. Slowly.

The demon must have seen the helplessness on his face, because it laughed again.  “Think of it this way, hunter. Hell’s going to win today’s little boxing match, so you’re just missing out on your world becoming ours.  What a perk, right?”

Bill couldn’t do anything but breathe and feel the burning pain in his hand.  In a desperate move, he _thought_ the words of the exorcism, as hard as he could, but apparently they needed to be said aloud.

“I’m letting him watch.  Your friend,” the demon clarified.  He waved his hand again and Bill’s shirt flew open, exposing bare skin.  The demon ran Jimmy’s finger down his chest, slashing his chest open as he went.

Bill couldn’t scream as blood dripped down his front.  He couldn’t see the gash, but it felt like it went straight down to his ribs.

The demon did it again, all with a disgustingly cheerful expression.  

The pain was too much.  Bill’s eyes rolled back into his head and things went black.

Next thing he knew, he was slammed onto the table, lying flat with the demon gripping his throat.

“You don’t get to pass out, human.  Not until I’m done with you and we are _nowhere_ close.”

The demon shook him as it spoke and things on the table rolled.  Bill felt something cold touch his left hand.

Glass and metal, it felt like.  One of Oliver’s many salt shakers.  It had to be.

While the demon slashed at his chest, this time peeling at his skin, Bill grabbed the shaker.  Mustering as much strength as he could, he slammed the shaker against Jimmy’s head, shattering it and spilling salt all over the demon.  As he did so, Bill silently apologized to Jimmy.

The demon roared and clutched at its face, turning away from Bill momentarily.

Bill took advantage of the distraction, pulling his phone out as he rolled off the table.  He bit back the pain and focused on getting his phone out of his pocket. With his eyes on the demon, he pressed the right buttons to bring up the voice memos.

Flip phones were handy, sometimes.  Easy to manipulate, sight unseen.

He pressed play and tossed the phone across the room.

His own tinny voice rang out.  “ _Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus. Adiuramus te, cessa decipere humanas creatura_ s–”

“No!” screamed the demon and Bill saw black smoke dancing in and out of Jimmy’s mouth.

The demon scrambled for the phone and Bill lurched the other direction.  The demon closed the phone, cutting off the recording.

Bill was ready.  “– _eisque aeternae perditionis venenum propinare_!” he yelled.

Jimmy’s head was thrown back, mouth open, and a long column of black smoke poured out of him, sinking into the floor.  Back to Hell, presumably.

Jimmy collapsed.  Bill walked over as quickly as the pain would let him.  A quick check told him Jimmy was still alive, but unconscious.

Oliver was not so lucky.  His neck was clearly snapped and he had no pulse.  He was gone.

If that was the case, Bill needed to focus on Jimmy.  With another scream – and trying not to use his right hand – Bill dragged Jimmy to the couch and propped him up against it.

He collapsed on the couch, wondering how many muscles he’d just pulled and how the hell he was going to explain these injuries.  He needed sewing up. He needed his fingers set.

He’d work on that when he had energy.  Things were getting fuzzy again.

Before he closed his eyes, he saw Jimmy stir.

Jimmy looked around.  “Bill?” he asked, relief evident in his voice when he looked behind him.

“Here,” Bill said weakly.  “And so are you.”

“I was leaving on patrol and the next thing I knew, everything was black and I felt trapped in my own head.  Something had me. It let me see what it was doing to you, told me what else it was going to do.” Jimmy sounded heartbroken and confused.

“It was a demon,” Bill said.  “First one I’ve seen and I hope it’s the last.  It dug information out of you to find Oliver and me.”

Jimmy looked around the living room.  “That where we are? Oliver’s?”

Bill nodded, but realized Jimmy was facing the wrong way.  “Yeah. The demon killed him, though.”

Jimmy froze; Bill saw it in his shoulders.  “I… I remember that. I remember feeling his neck…”

“I know.”  Bill leaned forward and put a hand on Jimmy’s shoulder.  “But that was the demon and not you.”

“It was using my body.”

“But it wasn’t you,” Bill repeated.  “You’d never do something like that.”

“And you!” Jimmy cried, turning to look at Bill.

Bill held up his hand, which was still grotesquely twisted.  “Needs to be set. And I need some stitches.”

Jimmy turned a little further to look at Bill’s face.  “He was going to completely skin you,” Jimmy confessed.  “He told me he was going to do it to you, then to Margaret, then to the kids.”

“But he didn’t,” Bill said, glad he’d gotten the exorcism out before the demon found Jimmy’s family.

Jimmy turned away again and was quiet for a long time.  Bill pulled at his fingers, trying not to yell in pain, until they were all set.  He still needed to splint them, but maybe Jimmy would help.

“I was going to tell Sheriff Dawes what you did,” Jimmy said quietly.  “It killed me, but when you didn’t show up for shift today, I thought you’d made your choice.”

Bill froze.  “Are you still going to?”

Jimmy laughed.  “How can I? You saved my life and the lives of my family by knowing this crazy stuff.”

Bill shrugged, knowing Jimmy couldn’t see it.  “At least one of us knew what to do.”

“Maybe I need to learn, too,” Jimmy said slowly.

Bill leaned forward, feeling the tears in his chest pull with the movement.  “It’s a lot you don’t want to know about. And now with Oliver dead, it’ll be a lot of learning on the job.”  He flopped back; the burning in his chest was too much. “Of course, that assumes I don’t bleed out here. And that the world lasts past noon today.  That’s when the Heaven and Hell fight’s supposed to happen. Stull Cemetery, which seems appropriate somehow.”

Jimmy turned around and climbed to his feet.  “Where? And let me get you to the clinic.”

“No,” Bill said.  “I can’t explain these injuries.  You’ll have to sew me up here.” He marveled at how much he was sounding like Oliver.  He told Jimmy where to find the silk thread and needles – and most importantly, the alcohol.  As soon as Jimmy handed him the whiskey, Bill took a long swig.

Jimmy winced as he pierced Bill’s skin, but he didn’t stop.  “Where’s the fight again?” he asked.

Bill was grateful for the distraction.  “Stull Cemetery. Place near Lawrence that’s supposed to be haunted and have a gate to Hell in it.”

“Oh yeah,” Jimmy said, carefully tying off one set of stitches.  “I remember that from camping trips. Ghost stories.”

“Guess the ghost stories are real,” hissed Bill as Jimmy splashed some more whiskey on his cuts.

Jimmy shook his head.  “I can’t believe I’m even considering doing this crazy stuff.”

“You’ve got time to consider,” Bill said.  “All the time in the world, which is about two hours.”

Jimmy gave Bill a look that said he wasn’t funny.

Bill glanced over the back of the couch towards the door.  “We need to deal with Oliver’s body. Do we stage a break-in or just have him disappear?”

“I’m not sure I want to be involved in that part,” Jimmy said warily.

“You’re already involved,” Bill pointed out.  “And I can’t move him on my own, not in this state.  I need your help, partner.”

Jimmy sighed deeply and Bill knew he was going to help.

 

The rain was a deluge, rare for this time of year.  Bill and Jimmy cleaned up Oliver’s apartment and carried his body out to his van, getting soaked in the process.

Oliver had told Bill about hunter funerals, about the need to burn bodies.  They couldn’t do that today, not in this weather, but they could come back tomorrow, maybe.  Bill checked that Oliver’s firewood stash was under shelter before he left with Jimmy.

“What are we going to do?”  Jimmy asked.

Bill’d been thinking about that exact question.  “We wait until one of the neighbors comments, then we do a wellness check and find Oliver missing.  In the meantime, that basement needs a fresh coat of paint and we need to clear everything out from down there.”

“What do we do with all his stuff?”

“My second bedroom?” Bill said, shrugging.  “I don’t know where else to put it. And the onus is kind of on me to take over for him.  As far as I know, no one else in town knows this stuff.”

“I do,” Jimmy said quietly.  “Stanley does.”

Bill gave Jimmy a look, which was slightly ruined by the wet hair plastered to his face.  “You don’t want to be part of this. Kids and wife and all that. Stanley won’t, either. He’s got Bonnie.”

“Maybe that’s why we _do_ need to help you,” Jimmy said.  “We’ve got skin in the game. We have reasons to keep Jericho safe.”

Bill looked at Jimmy appreciatively.  “If you’re sure, I know I could really use the help.”

“You’re my partner.  If I don’t help you, what kind of friend am I?”

Bill judiciously didn’t mention their fight from yesterday.  What they’d been through today negated all that.

 

Noon came, noon went, and all that happened was the rain cleared.

Bill wondered what happened.  Who’d won. If the world was going to really start ending.

The sun came out with a vengeance, drying the rain and enveloping Jericho with humidity.

Jimmy and Bill came back to Oliver’s with a couple cans of white paint.  They loaded what they could into the trunk of Bill’s SUV and painted the downstairs.  They finished one coat before Jimmy’s shift was up, but that seemed to be enough to cover the symbols on the wall.

Jimmy shook Bill’s hand – gently – before he left.  “I’m sorry for what I said before,” he apologized. “You were right about this stuff being real and Jericho needing protection.  I’m sorry for what happened to Oliver.”

“As long as you don’t blame yourself for any of it,” Bill said seriously.  “Tomorrow I’ll be at work. We can come pick up Oliver’s van and some firewood and take him out to the clearing.  Build a pyre there.”

“We’ll bring Stanley, too.”

Bill finally smiled, just a bit.  “I’ll be glad to have you two with me on this.”

“We should have been from the start.”  Jimmy nodded at him and left.

Bill climbed in his own car and drove home.  In small loads, he brought in all of Oliver’s hunting things.  Half of it he didn’t know what it was, but he was going to find out.

Bill pulled out Oliver’s cell phone, the one he said was used exclusively for hunting, and his notebook.  He flopped on his couch and started reading.

An hour into it, the phone rang.

 _Bobby S_ , said the caller ID.

Bill answered.

“Who’s this?” a gruff voice asked after a second.

“I’m Bill.  Oliver was training me, but a demon got him today.  So it’s just me now.” Bill hoped he wasn’t giving out too much information to the wrong person.

There was silence for another second.  “Untrained and by yourself? We need someone better than that covering northwest Kansas.”

Bill rankled.  “I’m sorry. Me and two of my friends are all that’s out here.”

This Bobby person grumbled.  “Have to come down and train you myself.”

“Why’d you call?” Bill asked.

“I was calling to tell Oliver the Apocalypse has been called off.  It took a lot, but we stopped it.”

“That’s a good thing.  Why do you sound upset?” Bill asked bluntly.

“I told you.  It took a lot.  Don’t be nosy, kid.”

“Fine,” Bill said.  “I’ve got a lot left to learn and I’m trying to study.  Call again if you’re going to help.”

Bobby barked a laugh.  “You’ve got the attitude, that’s for sure.  I’ll be in touch.”

 

The fire crackled and a sickeningly sweet smell came from the pyre.

Bill, Jimmy, and Stanley repositioned themselves upwind.

“So there’s more than just vampires?” Stanley asked as they watched Oliver burn.

Bill and Jimmy nodded.  “More than you’d think,” Bill said.

“And so you guys are… hunters?  That’s what you call yourselves?”

“Yes,” Jimmy said.  “And we want you to help us too.”

“We need someone who doesn’t work a shift job,” Bill said practically.  “You already know there’s stuff out there and you’d be good at it. You’re strong and fast and probably won’t get caught on your first hunt like I did.”

“And you’re in on this, Jimmy?” Stanley asked.

“Can’t ignore it anymore,” Jimmy said.  “Trying to got me in over my head.”

“Huh,” Stanley said.  “Guess I’m in.”

“Just like that?” Bill asked.  “That easily?”

Stanley shrugged.  “Someone’s got to take care of you two.”

Despite the funeral pyre in front of him, Bill grinned.  This was going to be tough, but he had his two best friends backing him up this time.

Monsters, beware.


End file.
